


Too little, too late

by IowaGuy1979



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Rewind Time Powers (Life is Strange), Angst, F/F, Post-Save Arcadia Bay Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:41:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25753762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IowaGuy1979/pseuds/IowaGuy1979
Summary: Max had had 5 years to make up for, one week couldn't do it.But, that was all she had had.
Kudos: 6





	Too little, too late

Six years. 

It had been six years, since her best friend died. Since the light left Max Caulfield’s world.

She remembered it, as if it were yesterday. She would always remember, it was engraved into her mind.

“Get that gun away from me, psycho!”

BANG

Nathan attempting to shake her awake, then running. Seeing Chloe sprawled on the floor, red covering white.

Max sat in front of her laptop, trying to work on some pictures she had taken for a wedding. It wasn’t like being featured in galleries in New York or Paris, but, kept food on the table.

A song started playing on her Spotify.

I fell by the wayside, like everyone else  
I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, but I was just kidding myself.  
Our every moment, I start to replace  
Cause now that they’re gone, all I hear is the words I needed to say

That was pretty much the 5 years that she and Chloe had spent apart. She had been so damn angry. Angry at William for dying. Angry at Max for deserting her. Angry at the world for treating her like shit. And Max deserved all of her anger, for abandoning Chloe. She had replaced Max with Rachel Amber. Together, they had started to heal the heart Max had destroyed.

When you hurt under the surface  
Like troubled water running cold  
Well, time can heal, but this won’t

Chloe had held so much pain, under her surface. She had gotten angry plenty of times, but, it was nothing compared to what she felt. Max chuckled darkly at that last lyric. Chloe would be a scar on Max’s heart for the rest of her life, one impossible to forget.

So, before you go  
Was there something I could’ve said to make your heart beat better?  
If only I’d have known you had a storm to weather.  
So, before you go  
Was there something I could have said to make it all stop hurting  
It kills me how your mind can make you feel so worthless  
So, before you go

If only she’d kept contact with Chloe, to help her with William’s dying, and David’s entry into her life. Would she have been happier? 

Was never the right time, whenever you called  
Went little by little by little until there was nothing at all  
Our every moment, I start to replay  
But, all I can think about is seeing that look on your face.

Max had left Chloe on her own, to face the world. She had created a cocoon using her cowardice, telling herself that Chloe had moved on. She told herself that Chloe didn’t need Max dragging her down. Now, all Max would ever have are memories.

Would we be better off now?  
If I’d have let my walls come down?  
Maybe, I guess we’ll never know  
You know, you know

Max felt the tears running down her face. If only she hadn’t been a chickenshit. Chloe might not have turned out to be the same girl she remembered, but, her life would be better than it had been. 

Was there something I could have done to make it all stop hurting?  
It kills me how your mind can make you feel so worthless

Max pulled out a photo she had taken of Chloe, a month before Max had moved. She kissed it reverently, like Kate would kiss a crucifix She had lost the only thing that made life worth living. Her Captain. Her best friend.

So, before you go

Max broke down, sobbing. She put a pillow against her face, to stop a keening wail that rose up from her throat. 

A ice cold weight gripped Max’s heart. She knew it would never leave, until she saw her Chloe again.

However long that would take.

**Author's Note:**

> This song was playing on the radio, in a friend's car, the other day.  
> I thought how it fit the 5 years that Max and Chloe had been apart. How Max had lost the chance to tell Chloe how she felt, lost the chance to live a life with her.
> 
> The lyrics are from Before You Go, by Lewis Capaldi.


End file.
